Tunisia's ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was officially swept aside today and speaker of parliament Foued Mebazaa sworn in as his interim successor.
The constitutional council declared the head of state had "definitively" left power and appointed Mebazaa acting president under the constitution in a communique published by the official news agency TAP.
Mebazaa took the oath in his office in parliament, swearing to respect the constitution in the presence of his Senate counterpart Abdallal Kallel and representatives of both houses.
The council made its ruling at the request of Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi under article 57 of the constitution, which requires new parliamentary elections within 60 days.
Ben Ali signed a decree handing Ghannouchi interim presidential powers before flying out of Tunis Friday to refuge in Saudi Arabia. But his nomination under article 56 of the constitution had still left open the door to Ben Ali's return.
